So What
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: Trouble really was her middle name. It was just too bad that it didn‘t help when deciding whether or not to give up on Vincent Valentine. VincentYuffie, rating for language and violence.


_Think of this fic as a way for me to practice writing fighting scenes. Don't hesitate to let me know how I can improve them. Enjoy!(The rest of the A/N is at the end)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters used in this piece of fiction. I am making no money off of them or off of the song, "So What."_

………………………

**So What**

………………………

_So what_

_I'm still a rock star_

_I've got my rock moves_

_And I don't need you_

_And guess what_

_I'm having more fun_

_And now that we're done_

_I'm gonna show you tonight_

_I'm alright, __I'm just fine_

Sweet Leviathan… she had never known that she could come to despise someone as much as she did Vincent Valentine at that moment. He was the most egotistical, moronic, depressing… bastard she had ever met!

Except that she didn't hate him. Instead her dorkus heart had gone and fallen for him without her permission. It had started from the moment she had met him in that creepy mansion and it had festered in her chest to this very day. It had seemed though, that as soon as she had turned twenty-one he had gotten a 'bleep' on his woman radar when it came to her. Oh, he had tried to hide it, but Tifa had taught her to recognize the looks on a man's face—she'd perfected her little system when it came to Cloud—and Yuffie had actually _seen _him _look _at her.

Despite the fact that she was finally getting a reaction out him, he kept his distance and it had taken him a while to even allow her to kiss his cheek. Their first actual kiss had been chaste and completely lacking the heat she was seeking, but Yuffie had been patient. She had bided her time until one night, when the bar had been closed and they had been the only two awake, she had nearly blindsided him with her kiss. It had been the first time she had felt his hands on her, clutching at her in a near painful way.

Their relationship had grown at the pace of a turtle from that day on, but she'd learned to be patient—thanks to the job Reeve had entrusted her with at the WRO—and knew that no good would come of pressuring Vincent. Still, there were times when her patience got the better of her and made her say things that she didn't mean. Which was why she and Vincent had argued and she was out, getting herself into trouble.

What had made her angrier though, was that _she _was the one who had brought up Lucrecia, not Vincent. She had been the one to blow up on him. But what was she really supposed to do? Sit around and just offer her entire soul without getting anything in return? She could understand that she was still young and not experienced in relationships, but she knew she wasn't asking too much. The need to get to know someone she cared about was _not_ too much to ask.

After she had stormed out of her room at the bar where she had yelled and Vincent had remained silent, she had taken winding streets in order to avoid getting detected by the emo-vampire. She had stopped calling him that long ago, but she was beyond angry at the moment.

As she approached her first location, she smirked to herself and entered, her keen eyes scanning the dark interior, trying not to breathe in too much of the stale smell of smoke and old liquor, and she wasn't too surprised to see that men were already leering at her. Yuffie rolled her eyes and approached the bartender, a rough looking man with a scarred face, who looked old enough to be her grandfather. "You lost, little girl?" he asked her, giving her a once over; oddly enough it was nowhere near perverted.

"I'm old enough to drink, old man. You wanna earn gil or do I have to find myself a different bar?" Yuffie asked snidely.

"This isn't a place where girls like you come," said the man darkly. "All you'll find here is trouble."

"Oh," Yuffie let out a bark of laughter. "Trouble is my middle name," she said with a smirk. "I'll take a glass of your hardest liquor."

"You sure you can hold your drinks?"

"Look, you can either give me my drink or I'm outta here," Yuffie interrupted rudely. The man glared at her and handed over the glass filled with amber liquor, and he watched in amazement as she downed it in one go. "What? I'm from Wutai. Legal drinking starts at sixteen," she said with a smirk.

The man just shook his head and walked away to tend to a customer who had walked in and had sat on the other side of the bar counter.

Yuffie sat stewing in her own anger. _How dare he push me away?_ She thought to herself. They had been doing great. He had finally accepted the fact that she felt something for him and he did for her, and had even allowed himself to kiss her back when she prodded him enough. He still blushed like a schoolboy—which wasn't much, since he was so _pale_—but he always insisted on keeping things "clean."

She scoffed to herself and a recollection of their argument came to the forefront of her mind. The liquor would take a while to actually get to her, thanks to Godo and Cid for raising her tolerance, but back to the point. They had been in her room, Yuffie talking, Vincent listening but not participating at all. It was like a one-sided conversation and it always had been. She had just been deluding herself into thinking otherwise.

"_Vince? How come you won't tell me about your childhood? Or when you were a teenager? Before you joined the Turks."_

_Vincent let out a long sigh. "There is not much that I can say about my childhood. It was fairly dull. I attended an all boys school, and spend very little time with my father."_

"_Do you remember your mother?"_

"_Yuffie…"_

"_Come on, Vincent. I feel like I'm talking to a wall. You _never_ volunteer information on yourself."_

"_I do not mean to hurt your feelings. I just… I wish it were easier for me to talk about myself with you," he said, looking away from her disappointed stare._

"_I bet you never had this problem with Lucrecia," she bit out. She knew it was a low blow, but anger always got the best of her, and she hadn't been able to help herself._

"_Do not bring her into this," Vincent said coldly. At the look of rage that crossed her features, he shook his head. _

"_Right, I shouldn't even mention Saint Lucrecia's name, right?" she bit out. "Is this going to be where you tell me that I'm not good enough to even speak her name?" Yuffie asked sarcastically._

_Vincent sighed heavily and looked as if he had a very big headache. "Lucrecia was from a different time… a different _life_," he stressed. "I would never compare you to her."_

_Yuffie just looked away but her anger had not been abated. "Why did you let me into your life, Vincent?"_

Yuffie's eyes narrowed and she downed another shot, feeling it warm her stomach. Before she could ask for another, a heavy hand came down on her shoulder. "Why so alone, sweetheart?" asked a rough voice.

Yuffie had been waiting for it, expecting it, from the moment she had walked into the bar. "I don't like people," she said, not turning to look at him.

The hand on her shoulder tightened and Yuffie grit her teeth, noticing that the bartender was walking towards her, his face set in a scowl as he looked at the man behind her. But before he could say anything, Yuffie grabbed the hand on her shoulder and twisted, sending her knee into his ribs and hearing them crack. The man grunted in pain and fell onto the ground, clutching his hand and his middle as best he could.

He had been sitting with friends and the other three stood and began to move towards her, cracking their knuckles. Yuffie gave them all a bored look and stood, surging forward before they could reach her. She moved with deadly accuracy, even with the two drinks she'd had already, punching, spinning away from foots and fists as the men tried to catch her. She was too quick though and all they caught was air as she disabled them all, barely even breaking a sweat.

One man ended up slammed back against an old jukebox, while the second fell over the table behind her and it broke into pieces under his weight. The third, he got in a lucky knock and the blow threw her backwards into a table before Yuffie could regain her balance. She used her legs to ward him off as he ran towards her and used the heel of her boot to drive it up and break his nose.

She regained her balance and rotated the shoulder the man had hit, scowling as a sharp pain shot through it. She knew it would bruise, but at least some of her anger and stress had left her. The man behind the bar was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "So your middle name is trouble, huh?"

Yuffie smirked and pulled out enough gil to cover the damage and her drinks. "Sorry about the damage. I just needed to warm up," she said.

"Warm up for what?" asked the man curiously.

"To kick this city's ass," she replied stepping on one of the men's chest on her way out.

She rubbed at her shoulder a bit and pondered where to go for her next drink. Yuffie had known that if she had stayed in Tifa's bar, she would've owed her friend for a lot of damage. That had been her primary reason for leaving. Besides, she didn't need Vincent's calm tone in the background, telling her that she needed to calm down. He was always the voice of reason, always the one who could lull her into relaxing and remaining serene. "Damn it, Vincent. It can't be a one person relationship!" she hissed out loud.

Her phone began to shake in her pocket and Yuffie took it out, spotting Tifa's name on the screen. She opened it and placed it to her ear. _"Yuffie?" Tifa asked._

"I'm busy, Teef," Yuffie said, approaching a bar with more lighting and more people inside.

_"The walls in this place are pretty thin. I heard everything," Tifa said quietly._

"Oh, I know those walls are thin. I do sleep next door to you and Cloud," Yuffie muttered in annoyance.

_Tifa sputtered in embarrassment for a few seconds and Yuffie could imagine that she was blushing on the other line. "That's not the point. Yuffie, come back. Vincent is worried," said the woman lightly._

"Yeah? If he's so worried, why isn't he the one calling me?" Yuffie snapped. "Look, Teef, I'm fine. I'll be home late, so don't wait up for me. I can take care of myself."

_"Yuffie, if you don't get home soon, I'm going to have Reeve run a cell phone trace on you so that I can know where you are."_

"Maybe I'll just shut off my phone now," Yuffie said indignantly.

_"Don't you dare!" Tifa had that mother tone that held no room for argument._

"Fine. I'll be home in a while. _Don't_worry about me," Yuffie said. "Goodbye, Tifa."

_"Be safe, Yuffie," Tifa said in a resigned tone._

Yuffie closed her phone and stuffed it back into her pocket before entering the bar. Once more she took a look at her surroundings before making her way towards the bar. There were various groups of men and women talking and drinking, having a good time apparently. It was too bad she wasn't in a jolly mood herself. She really shouldn't have been drinking in the mood she was in, but it was the only way she could get some distance between them and to stop herself from saying stupid things in front of Vincent. This was the best way to take out her frustration without hurting Vincent more than was necessary.

"Hardest liquor you have," Yuffie said to the bartender. Though the bar had nothing on Tifa's, Yuffie realized that she was clear across town, and since many people didn't like to travel so far and so late, this bar was the closest they had.

Before she could touch her drink though, her phone began to shake in her pocket once more. Yuffie rolled her eyes and prepared to give Tifa a piece of her mind as politely as possible, but she wasn't the one calling. Yuffie opened her phone and placed it against her ear, silent.

"_Are you there?"_

"Yeah," Yuffie said after a moment of hesitation.

"_Will you come home before you hurt yourself?"_

Yuffie felt her eyes narrow as the anger returned full force. "Still see me as a kid, huh? I can take care of myself. I don't need another father," she bit out.

_Vincent let out a long, impatient sigh. "I need to know that you are safe and not getting into trouble. I _know_ you can take care of yourself, but we need to talk."_

"About what?" Yuffie snapped, aware that more than one person was eavesdropping on her conversation.

"_I know you did not mean what you said before you left."_

"Oh yeah? And can you read my mind in order to know what I'm really feeling or thinking?" she asked

"_I know… I can be a bit frustrating."_

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "That's an understatement," she muttered.

"_Yuffie… I need you…"_

She perked up at his words, but he completed his sentence all too quickly, shattering her illusions.

"…_to come home."_

"You can't even bring yourself to tell me that you need me, huh? It's still too much to ask of you. To give me even a _small _indication that you truly want me in your life. Well, guess what? I stand by what I said. Go, Vincent. Live your life however you wish, contrary to popular belief, I don't _need _you to function properly," Yuffie said darkly.

"_Yuffie… we need to be face to face when you say that to me."_

"No, we don't. You're free Vincent. No more annoying Yuffie to deal with," she said quietly. "I hope you find a way to be happy," she said before closing her phone. A few seconds later, it began to shake once more, but she ignored it. She hummed thoughtfully, realizing that she hadn't known Vincent could be at all persistent. Her phone rang a total of three times before it stopped, and though it may have seemed like a half-assed effort to someone else, Yuffie knew that it was expressive as Vincent could get.

Letting out a heavy sigh, her eyes narrowed when someone pushed her, spilling some of her drink over her hand. "Will you watch it?" she snapped, hoping that it was someone looking for trouble and who would rise to the bait just like herself.

"And if I don't?" asked the voice of a woman.

Yuffie turned and glared at her, not discouraged in the least to see that the woman before her was probably a foot taller than her. Man, she looked taller than Vincent. "I'm in the mood to kick someone's ass. You wanna get lucky tonight?" Yuffie asked her darkly.

The woman grabbed the front of her shirt and nearly lifted her up from the ground, but Yuffie had already started moving and had aimed her knee into the woman's chin, forcing her to release her. The ninja stood and smoothed out her rumpled shirt, but the woman was already running towards her, swinging a chair that Yuffie deflected with her elbow. The wood splintered, and it hurt like a _mother fu—_but Yuffie ignored the pain and rammed her other elbow into the woman's face before head butting her and then kicking her feet from under her.

The woman went down with a loud thump and Yuffie realized that people were staring at her now. Yuffie turned towards the bar and downed the drink.

"I want you out of here! We don't tolerate fighting!" said the bartender.

"Fine," Yuffie said, throwing down gil for her third drink of the night and turning to walk out.

Someone cried out a warning to her, but it was too late. Yuffie was tackled head first into the door and she and her attacker broke through it, literally ripping the door off its hinges. They both rolled across gravel and Yuffie scrambled to her feet, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump once more. Her fist connected with the woman's gut, followed by a knee to her face, and a fist to her nose.

But the woman did not go down once more, and it became clear to Yuffie that she had experience in fighting; or at least more than the man at the bar before. She charged Yuffie and slammed her back against the outside wall of the bar, driving her fists against Yuffie's stomach and ribs. Yuffie grunted in pain and nearly doubled over when a knee was slammed into her sternum. She couldn't possibly be getting her ass kicked!

She gripped the woman's dark, red hair and slammed it into the windshield of a car, hearing a crack, but the woman grabbed her in a headlock and returned the favor, slamming Yuffie into the side window. They fell away from each other then, breath ragged and with bleeding head wounds. Yuffie sneered and felt her patience finally wear away.

With a roar—that sounded very much like a battle cry—Yuffie threw her weight forward and then flipped, slamming her foot under the woman's chin with as much force as she could; the kick had been one that Tifa had taught her long ago. The woman finally went down with a cry and Yuffie let out a gasping breath, feeling her chest and ribs ache.

"Bitch," the ninja hissed before limping away. As she walked, Leviathan seemed intent on punishing her, even though she was in Edge, and rain began to pour down over her. Yuffie let out a shuddering breath and felt tears begin to travel down her face, mingling with the raindrops.

It was becoming more and more obvious why Vincent didn't want anything to do with her. Why he kept her at a distance and refused to share himself with her. She really was too much of a nuisance. She had always thought that Barret and Cid were being assholes, but… they had been so right. She should've never hoped for someone like Vincent to actually feel something special for her. The rest of the argument came back to her, and her breath came out more ragged.

_He was silent, avoiding her gaze as she nearly burned a hole in Tifa's spare bedroom with her pacing. "I warned you that I was not good company. Especially for you," Vincent said after a moment._

"_What do you expect out of this?" she asked, motioning to them._

_Vincent looked up at her in confusion, but he realized that he had been asking himself the same thing. Why had he allowed himself to see her as a woman? Why had he responded to her kiss? Why had he led her on if he was going to push her away now? "I… do not know."_

_Yuffie let out a bitter laugh. "Nice one. Let me just make this easy for you and end it before _you _are forced to let me down. But of course, how stupid of me. Typical obtuse, immature, bratty Yuffie. Can't even tell when there's no relationship to save in the first place. I can see now why I can't compare to your precious Lucrecia," she said before storming out of the room and leaving him there alone._

Yuffie took a look at her surroundings and realized that she had been wandering around Edge and she hadn't even been consciously aware of it. She had a long way to go before getting back to Tifa's place, but it would be a good time to sort out a few more of her thoughts. Why was she always ruining things? Why couldn't she just be happy with what he gave her and shut her big fat mouth?

Her entire body was beginning to sting like something awful and she began to slowly make her way back home. Every step she took made her resign herself to the fact that her dream to be with Vincent, to get to know the man behind the leather, the cloak, and the guns, to finally, finally get through to his heart, would never happen. It was best to leave things the way they were. It would hurt for a while, but she would get over it. She hoped.

It took her a while, but she found herself standing in front of Seventh Heaven, her hair and clothes soaked through and the blood washed down from the more visible and obvious wounds. How would she be able to look Vincent in the eye now? Things had been so much better when her feelings hadn't been so out in the open. Damn it. He'd always been aware of her stupid little crush, but he'd been too much of a gentleman to do anything more than smile in amusement. There was no taking anything back now, she thought with a sniff.

The lights were already off and she took out the key she carried in one of her many pockets and shakily opened the door. She was sure that Tifa would nag her about the water—and more than likely blood—dripping all over the floor when morning came around. Maybe she'd be dead before Tifa woke up in the morning, Yuffie thought morbidly. She certainly felt as if she had been pummeled a few times by Omega, and her body was shaking from the cold. Her eyelids felt heavy and she felt as if she were forcing her legs to drag as she moved forward.

Her vision was tilting and she knew that it was only slightly because of the drinks she'd had. She had a feeling that the knocks to the head she'd received were mainly the reason. But it didn't matter, her eyes were closing and darkness was pulling her in. Oh well, another bump to the head couldn't hurt, right?

She was unconscious before she felt the two warm arms that encircled her and lifted her before she could touch the floor.

…

When she came to, everything hurt, a dull, throbbing pain all at once. Yuffie winced and nearly doubled over when something cramped in her stomach. A damp cloth was placed against her split lip and she would've winced if the pain in her stomach had been less severe than a simple cut on her mouth. She glanced at the person dabbing at her, expecting to see Tifa, but nearly started in surprise when red eyes regarded her from a calm face. Though he looked the perfect picture of serenity, his eyes were like a tempest, filled with pain and turmoil. No, more like a volcano full of lava. Yeah, that was more accurate. She cleared her throat when she realized that she had been staring.

Yuffie then realized that she was out of the wet clothing and into a dry pair of shorts and a pajama tank. "What—"

"Tifa took over. She was very worried," Vincent assured her, noticing the panicky look in her eyes. "Did someone attack you?" he questioned softly.

Yuffie looked away from his eyes and glared at the ceiling. "Do you really care?" she bit out.

"Yuffie."

She turned onto her side, away from him and bit back the whimpers of pain. "Go away," she muttered, clutching at her middle.

"I will not," he said, prodding at a spot on her lower back that made her breath wheeze out. "Please answer my question."

Yuffie felt tears squeeze out against her will, but she didn't turn to look at him. "I wasn't attacked," she finally said.

Vincent sighed. "What happened then?"

She refused to volunteer the information that she had started fights in two different bars in the city. He prodded gently again at her bruises and Yuffie let out a ragged breath. "Stop!" she finally yelled.

"I should take you to the emergency room," he muttered worriedly. "I cannot heal your wounds with materia if something is broken."

"I'll go myself," Yuffie finally hissed, moving to stand with difficulty. She choked on a cry when her ribs protested and she realized that there _was _a possibility of some of her ribs having been broken. Her knees buckled, but she didn't hit the floor. Instead she let out a pained cry when Vincent's arms came around her. The next thing she knew, she was being surrounded by a whirlwind of red and she felt weightless, in the air. What felt like seconds later, they were standing in front of the hospital.

Yuffie looked up at Vincent as he held her in his arms and stared in amazement. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Vincent just ignored her and strode purposely into the emergency room, asking for a stretcher. A nurse directed him and he set Yuffie down gently behind a curtain. "What happened?" asked the woman.

Yuffie kept her mouth firmly shut and glared at Vincent as he stood with his arms crossed, looking imposing and making the nurse a little nervous. "Miss? I need an answer unless you want us to assume that this man was the one who did this to you," said the nurse seriously.

Yuffie's mouth opened in surprise and she noticed Vincent's eye twitch slightly. He didn't like being accused of hurting her, but he'd done more damage than he realized with his indecision. She turned to the nurse and finally sighed. "I got into a bar fight," she muttered. "Two actually."

The nurse looked like she didn't believe her. Really, was she supposed to when the man looked taller and with more muscle mass than the small girl he had brought in? This seemed like one of the many cases of spousal abuse and maybe the girl was protecting the man out of fear or love.

"It wasn't him," Yuffie bit out. "I _could_ give you the addresses, but then I'd spend the night in jail. This man here… is responsible for a different kind of pain."

Vincent flinched at her words and turned away from them. So it _was _his fault that Yuffie had gone out to look for some trouble. It only reinforced his desire to leave and get as far away from Yuffie as he could the way she had wanted him to. All that he had ever been capable of was hurting her. It was a wonder she had ever found it in her heart to care for him.

"Hmm, I do believe that you may have some bruised ribs only, but the doctor will know for sure when he comes to take a look at you," said the nurse.

The woman left them alone and Yuffie sighed in annoyance. "I bet this just goes to prove just how stupid and immature I am, huh?" she asked, rubbing at her aching forehead.

Vincent just sighed heavily. "I did not mean to cause this."

Yuffie scoffed and turned her glare to him. "You didn't. I'm always the one causing the problems. Don't worry, Vince. I realized that you and I are never going to get to anywhere. It took a few knocks to the head for me to accept it," she said with a resigned sigh.

He did not reply, instead his thoughts turned inward and he wondered at the ache that had started in his chest at her words. Had she really given up on them? He had never wanted to hurt her, but she had been the first woman—yes, _woman—_to ever offer him a ray of hope. With her smiles, her laughs, her sunny disposition… she had wormed her way into his life.

It had gotten to a point when most of his thoughts were of Yuffie. What she would say if she saw him brooding, how she would brighten his day with her mere presence, and how he would ever be able to live without her in his life. It was just… that after his experience with Lucrecia, he had shut himself down from the automatic responses that came when a man began to feel something special for a woman in his life. He still felt them, but he could not express them the way Yuffie had wanted him to.

After the doctor walked in to check on her, and Yuffie swore up and down—in a _very _colorful type of language that could only have come from Cid and Barret—he gave her a few painkillers and let Yuffie know that she had nothing broken or concussed. She stood with some difficulty, trying to shy away from his touch, but Vincent wouldn't let her. He scooped her up into his arms, making sure to wrap what he could of his cloak around her to keep her warm and walked out of the emergency room. Outside, Yuffie found herself surrounded by red once more and a few seconds later, they were standing her bedroom at Seventh Heaven.

Vincent settled her down on the bed and then nearly forced her under the blankets for some much needed sleep. "Get some rest," he murmured.

Yuffie stared at him. "I can't." She stared at him as he grabbed a chair and took a seat at her bedside. "What are you doing?" she asked with a frown.

"I am going to sit here and make sure that you get some proper sleep," Vincent stated calmly. He reached into his pocket and produced a low level heal materia. He'd had to start it over because his high level heal had mysteriously disappeared the same day he had arrived in Seventh Heaven and had seen Yuffie again.

Yuffie settled onto her side and let out a relieved sigh when most of her aches went away. Some of them remained, like the ache in her ribs, but the smaller wounds and the one on her head had sealed up. "I thought I gave you the okay to leave."

"I don't want to leave," Vincent said. Yuffie would find that he could be just as stubborn as she. "I am going to remain here until _I_ decide."

She blinked and stared at the buckles on his cape. "And how long will that be?"

"Until I… get better at expressing myself," Vincent said gently.

Her eyes snapped back to his, and she found that his crimson gaze was intent on her face. "Look… you don't have to pretend to care for my sake. Despite what everyone thinks, I am stronger than I look. I won't fall apart if you walk out of my life now."

"Have you stopped to think how it will affect me if you kick me out of your life instead?" he asked her gently.

Yuffie scoffed. "We both know it won't matter to you. I told you to stop pretending," she said, turning her back to him and scooting more into the center of her bed. Yuffie started when she heard the faint sound of buckles and zippers from behind her, but she refused to turn back to see what he was doing.

Then her bed shifted and she turned quickly, regretting it when her head began to ache. She watched Vincent as he slowly, almost stiffly, laid down. He was careful to not touch her, but Yuffie leaned against one of her elbows and stared at him openly in shock. "You… cannot expect me to change overnight," he said seriously, after a long moment of Yuffie gaping at him."

Yuffie gave him a suspicious look then. "What are you saying?" she asked slowly, disbelief clear in her tone.

"That if you can find it in yourself to be patient, maybe in time I can change," Vincent said quietly.

"Why would you want to change?" Yuffie asked, feeling hope fill her heart anew.

"For you, and for myself. I do not… want to live in the past forever. The things you said to me made me think," Vincent said, staring up at her ceiling. "I don't want to lose you."

Yuffie reached up and turned his head so that he was facing her. "Are you sure this is what you want? I don't want you to do something that you don't want to," she said seriously, her hand still on his cheek.

Vincent turned onto his side to face her and nodded. "Lucrecia gave me my life back, but you… you gave me back hope. Hope for the future," he said, reaching up to touch her own face.

Yuffie felt a smile bloom on her face. It was the first time he had touched her out of his own accord. Usually she was the one who prompted him into touching her, and even then, it was only to hold her hands or her shoulders. "Would it be too much to ask for you to share your past with me?"

"Not too much, no. But I suspect that it will take me some time to gather the courage to share my _entire_ self with you," Vincent replied, staring right into her bright eyes. Had he seriously thought he would be able to live without those eyes? And without her smile? And without her incessant chattering? He smirked at this, and watched Yuffie's face brighten because of a simple expression on his own face.

"You'll try, despite me being my bratty, immature self?" she asked with a small smile.

"You are who you are, and that is why I care for you," Vincent voiced out, the words coming out easier than he would've thought.

Yuffie hesitantly leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before drawing back with a long sigh. "Do you think we'll be able to move forward before my hair starts to gray?" she asked with a grin.

Vincent let out something that could've passed for a chuckle and inclined his head once. "I think that by then we'll be ready to hold hands."

Yuffie broke into giggles and she decided not to point out that it was the first time he _ever_ cracked a joke. Instead she slipped her fingertips through the ends of is hair, the dark strands fanned out on her pillow. "Will you… hold me while I sleep?" she asked, still hesitant and fighting back a yawn.

He only pondered it for a few moments before he opened his arms to her and Yuffie scooted closer. He remained above her blankets, and Yuffie bellow them, still keeping a considerable, but less than before, distance between them. "Vincent?" she asked sleepily, one arm draped across his middle.

"Yes, Yuffie?"

"I'm sorry for what I yelled at you earlier," she said. Vincent made a noise of assent. "All of it."

"All is forgiven, White Rose."

She cracked one eye open and looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Get some sleep."

"I kicked ass tonight."

"And you got yours kicked as well," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Let us sleep," Vincent said, reaching over to shut off the lamp next to her bed.

So what if it took him time, she would learn to be patient as well. Now that she had some reassurance that he cared, Yuffie found that nothing else mattered. She'd have to go looking for more bar fights if the end result was this, Yuffie thought as she snuggled deeper into his chest and smiled.

…

…

…

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…

_Well, what do you know? I can write a proper oneshot! Rejoice my peeps. It seems like most of my stories are inspired by songs and this one was no different. This one though, was only inspired by part of the chorus of Pink's "So What," and nothing else. The rest of the song doesn't apply. A lot of people find this song annoying—one of my closest friends hates this song with a passion—but I like it… as long as I don't get it in repeated quantities the way the radio enjoys doing. I listen to it once every few weeks or something, so it's cool for me. _

_I hope everyone enjoyed it regardless. As you saw, it was mostly centered on Yuffie, and pretty short compared to how long I tend to make my chapters these days. I took some liberties with materia use, since I'm guessing it would heal broken bones and put them back in place if cure was cast, right? Anyway, dunno what to make of this one. It just kinda wrote itself once the inspiration struck me and I don't know if it made sense or if it was totally redundant. So let me know what you thought of it and I hope everyone has a great week!_

Joey


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